


Love Like You: Outtakes

by CoffeeQuill



Series: Love Like You [8]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Analysis, Families of Choice, Family Feels, Force Bond (Star Wars), Lightsaber Battles (Star Wars), ManDadlorian, Other, The Force, Writing Breakdown
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-11 22:34:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29125008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoffeeQuill/pseuds/CoffeeQuill
Summary: A series of deleted scenes and dropped storylines from the Love Like You series, as requested by friends.A look at the thought process and what could have been different.
Relationships: Din Djarin & Grogu | Baby Yoda, Din Djarin & Grogu | Baby Yoda & Luke Skywalker, Grogu | Baby Yoda & Luke Skywalker
Series: Love Like You [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1581040
Comments: 5
Kudos: 44





	1. A Source of Love - First Chapter 1 Attempt

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! While I finished Love Like You months ago, it's still a story my heart loves relentlessly. In writing it, especially in the later fics, I had a couple of written scenes that I scrapped because they weren't fitting. Discord friends were interested in seeing more. Currently combing through all the old docs and version (there's a LOT) and seeing what might be interesting to show! I'm a sucker for talking about writing and explaining things.
> 
> This scene, in particular, was my initial beginning for A Source of Love. I was still trying to figure out what I wanted from the last fic, because the ideas for an epilogue were so drilled into my head, and the main story before it was going to establish what the earlier fics had been working towards in their relationship. I felt the epilogue didn't make sense without establishing what had become their new "normal" after obtaining the Darksaber and what exactly Kuiil was mourning.
> 
> Source of Love was difficult in that it was a 7-chapter story but it spread across 16 documents with all its versions and took me months to get right, having no beta help until near the end.
> 
> [Discord](https://discord.gg/UwZuG6N), [Tumblr](https://coffeequill.tumblr.com/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/coffee_quill)

Sticks clash together in  _ crashes  _ that echo throughout the room, sharp and loud, the wood meeting but never bending. They come hard and fast, almost switching off between offense and defense, but never diminishing in effort.

Luke isn’t gentle with him. He hasn’t been in forever.

They meet again, swings and slashes met with blocks and parries. He leaps towards a pillar, then bounces off it in the opposite direction. Their sticks clash again before he lands on the other side in a crouch.

His muscles ache and the room feels hot. He missteps and nearly has a stick crack down on him until he ducks and raises his own, letting Luke’s glance off. He backs up and lets out a breath.

“Focus,” Luke says, his voice stern. “You’re distracted.”

Kuiil lets out a breath and straightens, dragging in breath. “I’m fine.”

“You’re being slow.”

He lunges again, this time launching at Luke with a swing, but Luke only sidesteps and lands his own touch that  _ cracks  _ against Kuiil’s cuirass. Startled, he flails and crashes against the floor, his beskar clinking against the stone. He slides a few feet, then is slow to get up.

“You’ve been distracted all morning,” Luke says. His voice has veiled disappointment. “If these were sabers, you’d be dead. You’re sharper than what you’re showing. What is the problem?”

“I’m  _ fine,”  _ Kuiil snaps. He grips the stick. He gets to his feet, then turns and leaps onto the table before launching again. Luke throws a hand out and shoves him back; he tumbles back onto the table, rolling once before catching himself. He scowls, then whips around and thrusts his hand out in return, breathing heavy.

Anger and frustration surge through him.

His hand tenses to tighten, but Luke beats him and Kuiil’s body freezes instead, trembling as he’s held in place by the Force. After a moment, he begins to relax, breathing instead.

The hold melts away and he lets out a whimper, drawing his hand to his chest. “I didn’t…” he whispers, but Luke is turning away to put the stick with several others in a holder by the door.

“Come,” he says, and steps out of the room. Kuiil follows, every step weighed down with a sense of guilt.

Luke’s temple is quiet, big for the number of people living within it but ample for training. The Force feels nice here, always has. Kuiil follows Luke through the halls until they come outside, into the warm sunlight of the late afternoon.

Ships are lined neatly along the side but across from the temple is a large tree, a few boulders around it, and Luke sits at its base with his back against it. Kuiil hesitates before he sits down across from him, the sun glinting off his beskar. His heart is racing in his chest, the guilt heavy in his stomach.

“A few months ago, you were controlling these impulses,” Luke says. He lifts a hand and a few of the pebbles around them rise into the air, coming to spin in a slow circle between them. “Now, you’re unfocused, stressed and giving in to those bouts of anger.”

Kuiil swallows. “I… don’t mean to,” he says.

“What changed?” Luke asks.

Kuiil frowns. He grabs a stick beside him and begins to draw lines in the dirt, mouth twisted with uncertainty. He starts to draw a mythosaur skull, his own pendant feeling heavy on his neck.

Luke watches. “It’s problems at home.”

Kuiil nods, even as it makes his stomach turn to admit it. He doesn’t look up at Luke -- he knows his teacher’s thoughts. He knows Luke has been asking his  _ buir _ to keep Kuiil at the temple more often, to have fewer distractions, but it’s a firm  _ no  _ each time. They follow a schedule no matter what.

“Tell me about it,” Luke says.

Kuiil looks up for a moment, then down. “It’s…” he pauses and mumbles. “It’s stupid.”

“It’s bothering you, so it can’t be stupid,” Luke says. “It seems like everything is going well. You had some more Mandalorians the last time I was there.”

Kuiil shifts. “Yeah.”

“How are you and your father?”

Kuiil deflates a little further, and he can’t correct it before Luke notices. “It’s something with him,” he says. The pebbles settle. “Tell me.”

Kuiil stares at the ground, then rocks back and forth, tears already threatening to jump into his eyes. “He…” He pauses. “He’s busy.”

“Busy,” Luke says.

Kuiil nods, sniffling. “He’s  _ always  _ busy,” he says, and he reaches up to rub at tears before they can fall. “Always. He ignores me.”

“He’s trying to lead the Mandalorians,” Luke says. His voice is soft. “I’m sure there’s a lot of people who want his attention, too. He has to keep you all safe, but he would never ignore you.”

Kuiil stares at the ground. “Feels like it,” he whispers.

“Are things busy there?”

“... Yeah.” Kuiil mumbles. “They’re getting… getting food and new people and stuff. There’s a bunch of hunters but…  _ buir  _ doesn’t hunt anymore.” He makes a face. “I miss hunts.”

Luke smiles slightly. “Have you tried to talk to him about it? Tell him that you’re feeling forgotten?”

Kuiil shakes his head. “He’s not around,” he whispers.

(continue)

They get down from the ship and Kuiil is quick to jump onto Luke’s shoulder, holding on tight for balance. They walk along the stone path towards the doors, built into the mountain, where two Mandalorians stand. Their blasters are drawn, though they’re more relaxed than alarmed as they approach.

“Identification,” one says.

Kuiil hops off Luke’s shoulder and lands on the ground in front of a guard. He pulls out his mythosaur pendant, holding it up, and the guard bends to one knee. He puts his blaster away and lets out an amused breath. “We know you,  _ ad’ika,”  _ he says.

Luke slips a hand into his robes and lifts out a small piece of durasteel, smaller than his palm, with a mythosaur made of beskar inside it. A mudhorn is on the other side.  _ Burc’ya  _ is inscribed beneath both symbols. The other guard takes it to examine, then hands it back. “Enter,” he says, his voice gruff and gravelly.

Luke nods. Kuiil leaps again onto his shoulder and the doors open as they walk inside.

The Mandalorians’ new home is an old abandoned base, hidden within the mountain but vast with more than enough space for their growing numbers. Several Mandalorians walk past, some wearing complete beskar and some with durasteel, some painted and some not. There’s dozens of different signets and helmet designs, an amalgamation of different tribes. Some walk with helmets off, others keep theirs on.

In the distance, he hears hammering, multiple sounds all layering over each other.

After barely walking into the base, there’s a call of “Kuiil! Skywalker!” and Luke turns. Jaylen Tero stands several feet away, a holopad in his hands. He’s grown much more into a man since the Mandalorians settled here and he walks over.

_ “Su’cuy.” _

_ “Su’cuy,”  _ Luke says. “Is your  _ Mand’alor  _ here?”

“He might be in a meeting, but yes,” Jaylen says. “I can take you there.”

Luke nods. He’s not here often enough to know his way around. As Jaylen turns and walks, he follows, and Kuiil shifts on his shoulder. “He’s always in a meeting,” he says, his voice soft and sad. Luke frowns to himself.

The walk isn’t far but it takes them further into the base. As they approach a door, Luke can sense the people on the other side. Soft voices are audible. He counts five people, one of which registers as Din Djarin. The energy he omits has become familiar over time. A second presence is recognizable - Paz.

Jaylen reaches up to his helmet. “Djarin,” he says. “Skywalker’s here with Kuiil. Wants to talk to you.”

Luke waits, the kid shifting on his shoulder. The members of Din’s own tribe are the only Mandalorians, to Luke’s knowledge, that call him by his name. Everywhere else, he hears  _ Mand’alor  _ only.

On the other side of the door, there’s a pause and a lull in the conversation. Luke focuses and feels the other people disappearing, walking out. Then, Jaylen reaches out and opens the door.

“-- figure that out later.” Din’s voice reaches him. Paz gives Din a nod, then glances at Luke and the kid before disappearing through another door. He turns as Luke walks in, and the exhaustion coming off him isn’t missed. He’s got hands planted on the table in front of him, shoulders hunched, though he straightens as Luke approaches.

“I sent him over  _ yesterday,”  _ Din says. “What happened?”

He  _ sounds  _ exhausted, too, the tone of someone who’s anticipating another mess to clean up. Luke would have much more sympathy if Kuiil didn’t grip the collar of his shirt and make the smallest of sad noises.

“You happened, apparently,” Luke says, walking to the other side of the table. He glances at Kuiil. “You or me?”

Kuiil looks at him, then just looks away, squishing his cheek against Luke and partially hiding in his locks of hair. As Din just stares at them, Luke takes it as a no and sighs. “A short time ago, he was thriving in his training,” he says. “He had control over his emotions with very few slips. This time, he was all frustration with barely any control. It’s a problem.”

Din looks at him. “So that’s  _ my  _ fault?”

“According to Kuiil? Yes.”

Kuiil makes a nervous whimper, peeking out at Din, and his claws dig hard into Luke. He winces. The room is tense and Din’s fingers dig into the table, expression masked but emotions obvious behind it. “Explain what the hell you mean,” he says, voice tight.

Luke looks to Kuiil. “You tell him,” he says. “All you.”

Kuiil frowns, but after a moment he jumps down from Luke’s shoulder and onto the table. He leans back against Luke and looks up. “You…” he says softly.

Din visibly loosens, gaze fixed on the kid.

Kuiil sniffles, opening and closing his mouth with no words.


	2. A Source of Love - Chapter 1 Attempt #2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The SECOND try at beginning A Source of Love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was a big shorter.
> 
> Like mentioned in the last 'attempt', I completely threw out the storyline of Din and Kuiil having conflict. Wasn't working, wasn't in character, and ended up with this next. Starting with establishing the new 'normal' from Din's perspective, rather than Kuiil's, who had a negative emotional response towards the bad situation - and Din here, with a neutral situation, is just tired. Straight exhausted. What a mood.
> 
> I think from reading you could immediately see why I'd change it. Or, at the very least, rewrite it.

Din Djarin is tired.

Five years since he took the mantle of  _ Mand’alor  _ and he’s just tired. He didn’t expect fame and glory with the station and he’s been right so far, bogged down far more by anything but. The integration of multiple tribes under one roof has lead to more issues than he even imagined.

Issues over religious beliefs. Over territory. Whether or not a fight between two kids was out of play, like the kids say, or out of dangerous aggression, like the  _ buir’e  _ declare. Paz, as his  _ al’verde,  _ mediates most disputes, but more often than not, they demand Din’s opinion or decision. So rather than overseeing their food supply, their outreach for more Mandalorian tribes, or just spending some damn time with his kid, Din is dragged into an argument over one group encroaching on another’s space.

He isn’t sure if the silver streaks in his hair are from aging or stress, but it’s hidden beneath a helmet anyway.

_ “Buir?” _

Din glances away from the mirror as a door opens and closes, his son wandering in. He runs a hand through the silver locks before turning and walking towards his project on the floor.  _ “Su’cuy,”  _ he says. “Training’s done?”

Kuiil nods, walking over. Then his face wrinkles. “It smells like paint.” He steps around the table and frowns at the sight of Din’s beskar lying out on a sheet, each piece sprayed an inky black. “... Oh.”

Din grabs gloves and pulls them on, then picks up a pauldron and a cannister. He crouches down and begins spraying a coat over it. “How was training?”

“Good.” Kuiil walks over and presses himself into Din’s side, watching.  _ “Ba’vodu  _ says my technique is better. And I’m stronger.”

Din loops an arm around Kuiil, then finishes painting. “Good,” he says, setting it aside to air dry. The outer coating leaves a shine to the midnight black armor. “That’s good.”

Kuiil climbs up onto Din’s leg, standing there to tuck his head beneath his father’s chin, snuggled against him though he’s turned to watch. “It’s all black?” he whispers. “Where’s the - the mudhorn?”

“Not all black,” Din says. He takes the other pauldron and picks at the edge before peeling away wire tape, revealing the base silver beneath. The outside edges and the trim down the middle stay silver, the inside blackened.

“The mudhorn?” he demands.

“Covered, too.” Din again picks at where the mudhorn would sit and peels away painted tape. He puts the tape aside and pulls off his gloves, setting those down. “You don’t like it?”

Kuiil makes a face. “I like the shiny,” he says. “We were  _ both  _ shiny.”

“We can paint yours.”

“That’s worse!”

Din stands, bouncing Kuiil up onto his hip. “The trim and helmet stay shiny,” he says. “You’ll get used to it.”

Kuiil pouts. But he shifts and leans into Din’s side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The painting section is recognizable - I kept that, as a later chapter.
> 
> Absolutely had to rewrite at the very least. The entire section recounting the Mandalorians' situation was telling rather than showing and in the most boring sense. It was replaced by an opening that I liked much better, showing how the Mandalorians began to return 'home' after Din took the mantle of Mand'alor, from the outside perspective rather than Din's thoughts. (But this was where the 'silver fox Din' became a bit of a loved thing on the discord after I shared a snippet ;) )
> 
> It was on track for the final version and significantly better than "Din starts ignoring Kuiil". But it still wasn't the right Din yet. Copy and pasting the painting scene into a later doc could still match, but this Din still felt more jaded, more weighed down by his mantle than he'd end up being. While I can't find the version, I believe directly after this, Paz came in to talk to Din about _another_ problem they were facing with clans while Kuiil left to train with Luke, and Din was really just at the end of his rope.
> 
> I was also debating whether or not to paint Din's armor at all, since it almost felt criminal to change the silver look. But it also helped highlight that Din had literally changed his 'look' in embracing the Mand'alor role.

**Author's Note:**

> So, entirely different.
> 
> I stopped writing here after realizing that this wasn't at all the story for them. As much as I loved the idea of Din and Kuiil going through a rough patch together, this time an internal threat rather than an outside one like in the last fics, and Din being caught between Kuiil and the Mandalorians in terms of needs - I also realized, wait, this wasn't Din. At least not the one I'd been writing. He'd never allow his role as Mand'alor wrench him and Kuiil apart like that, and certainly wouldn't be so hostile when it was pointed out no matter how stressed. 
> 
> Din was OOC for neglecting his kid after the series building up what Din was willing to do for that kid. Kuiil was OOC, slightly, for being unwilling to talk to Din himself or other tribe mates who could help. I started to get intense writer's block at the end and just couldn't keep going in that scene, knowing internally it was wrong, and also realized that I was placing myself in a hole I wasn't sure how to get out of. (AKA, Din not giving Kuiil his attention, being hostile to Luke confronting him, and then somehow building back towards a good relationship - still an interesting idea, but not for this series.) 
> 
> Though, I really missed getting to write Luke and Kuiil training like this. What ended up in the fic was less of the intense training they had built towards and more focus on Kuiil himself over fighting. Some of it ended up - sort of - in the final epilogue version, with Kuiil training on his own. But the later training fight between Luke and Din sort of filled the gap.
> 
> As frustrating as it got with just STARTING the fic, it helped solidify where I _didn't_ want it to go.
> 
> [Discord](https://discord.gg/UwZuG6N), [Tumblr](https://coffeequill.tumblr.com/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/coffee_quill)


End file.
